Iran's missile program upsets United States war tactics

Nathaniel Lee

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance upheld by Russian Federation at the Security Council. It does not, in fact, ban Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles, a point of criticism for opponents of the deal. The US pulled out of the deal in May this year, accusing Iran of violating the terms of the deal by continuing its missile development and of threatening regional stability.

The U.S. has said it is seeking to curb the Islamic Republic's influence in the region and its missile program, which Iran says is needed for self-defense.

While tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain at an all time high after Tehran test fired a ballistic missile that is capable of carrying multiple warheads, violating United Nations resolutions, on Saturday.

Instead, it says "Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles", language that does not forbid Tehran from testing or make it a violation if it does so. It simply called on Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles created to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology." .

"Iran has launched missiles that are capable of carrying multiple warheads, including a nuclear weapon", he said.

Secretary of StateMike Pompeo said President Trump is building a new world order based on the foundation of American values.

Pompeo's speech marks the latest attempt by a Trump official to place the president's decisions into a coherent policy plan, after visits to Brussels by his vice president and other senior US officials.

Several EU countries have denounced the recent USA sanctions, however, and continue to work to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal, even though they have also criticised Iranian positions on other matters.

In response, Fitzpatrick wrote, "Not to excuse Iran's missile test, but it is not a "violation" of UNSCR 2231, which only "calls upon" Iran not conduct such tests.

There is no Security Council resolution prohibiting the missile program and missile tests by Iran", state news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.

And while Pompeo claimed the test violated United Nations resolution 2231, the launch does not constitute a violation of the United Nations measure, according to the language of the resolution.

Pompeo's address, which was met with polite applause, rejected concerns among many traditional US allies that Trump is undermining the West by withdrawing from climate, free-trade and arms control accords. "It shows that our best efforts to try to talk them out of their aggressive support of terrorism is probably going to be as unsuccessful as the UN's effort to stop them from launching missiles", Mattis said.

Insisting it would only use missiles for defensive purposes, Iran has repeatedly rejected negotiations over its missile program.

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